The new grail war (Prisma Illya)
by Mallador9000
Summary: After the defeat of the Ainzworths, Illya and her friends are forced to participate in another holy grail war to go home. Only, her servant is... "Onii-chan?"
1. Chapter 1

**This fanfic is going to be mainly about Illya(prisma Illya) summoning Emiya(Archer)**

 **I was searching for a fanfic like this on the website for a day straight and all I got were challenges telling people to write about this**

 **Thus I will write about it myself**

 **If I get some facts or details wrong I'm sorry and this story might be rewritten but right now it is just a fun side project**

 **To all my Overlord fanfiction readers: if you haven't seen any Fate anime than you should**

 **The franchise is really good**

 **Without further ado, let's begin**

 **(PS: there will be an OC, sort of…. You'll see)**

 **(However, Archer will be different…..)**

Illyasviel von Einzbern looked at the back of her hand, acknowledging the bright tattoo-like command spells on it. Miyu, standing a few meters to her side, also looking at her command spells, gave a reassuring smile. Rin, Luvia, Bazett, Kuro, Rwby, Sapphire, and Gil (kid) looked at the two soon to be masters from behind. Gil was simply smiling like always. Rin, Luvia, Bazett, and Kuro were wary, It was not unusual for servants to attack their masters. The mystic codes floated and faced Illya and Miyu, their expressions unidentifiable.

Illya and Miyu looked up at their summoning circles with determined faces and began to chant….

A woman stood at the summoning circle before Miyu. The armored blond woman put both hands on her invisible sword, pointed at the ground. Her emerald green eyes stared directly at the elementary school student. She asked one simple thing.

"Are you my master?"

Miyu could only stand in awe and show off her command seals. She knew this woman. She had put on her armor, swung her sword. Now she had actually summoned king Arthur of Britain.

 **Illya's case**

The man's red coat fluttered behind him as his black body armor glistened from the light. His red hair somewhat matched his coat's color, although a different shade. His eyes were determined and readied, his gaze fitting of one of the most experienced warriors.

The man looked up and asked one thing, his eyes wavering.

"Illya?"

 **Well Then**

 **How was that?**

 **Please give me responses, ideas, and criticism**

 **Anyway I didn't really want to use Emiya(Archer) after thinking about it**

 **I wanted someone more like a protagonist**

 **The actual plot of the story might be revealed next chapter, or the chapter after that**

 **The new chapter will be released soon (I think) this is just the introduction**

 **Goodbye for now**


	2. The Reunion and the Battle

**I am uploading a new chapter of this fanfic soon because the last chapter vas very short**

 **My update schedule is weird and random so even I don't know when new chapters will come out**

 **Anyway, enjoy**

Illya looked at the alternate universe version of her brother in shock. She didn't know what to say or do, only staring at him with her jaw as low as it could reach.

Shirou just looked at her with moist and guilty eyes and started trembling.

The others were shocked. Rin and Luvia looked on with wide eyes and slight blushes on their faces. Bazett narrowed her eyes. Gil's right eye started to twitch for whatever reason.

The red archer's expression then hardened, realizing that his sister was long dead and the girl before him was someone else entirely.

"I see. You are an alternate version of Illya. I'm sorry for mistaking you for someone else. My name is is Emiya Shirou, nice to meet you master."

Illya, having found her voice, realized the man before her was indeed a parallel universe version of her brother and greeted her servent.

" M-My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. It's nice to meet you onii-Shiro-san."

Shirou smiled and nodded, the expression reminding Illya of an adult version of her brother.

The archer's eyes studied his new master and her friends.

 _Rin, Luvia, Bazett Fraga Mcremitz, a tanned Illya, and a child version of Gilgamesh? Really?"_

Shirou frowned when he laid his eyes on Gil, something the shota king of Uruk did not ignore.

When Shirou saw the blond king in the summoning circle beside him, his voice trembled and a tear dripped down his cheek.

"Saber?"

It was almost a whisper but the ruler of Britain heard it as clearly as can be. After all, there was only one person in the universe that could say her class name with such love and tenderness.

The sovereign's emerald eyes drifted from her master to the direction of Shiro's voice. What she said was almost a whisper, but it was filled with all the love her heart could muster.

"Shirou?"

Suddenly, it was if time stopped around the lovers. Both of them completely ignoring the people around them as they embraced.

That one embrace conveyed centuries of endless dedication dedication and love that could not be put into words.

Saber acknowledged the drop of liquid that fell from her eye. She wasn't the king anymore. Now she could convey her emotions like a regular human being.

She whispered gently in Shirou's ear as another tear dripped down her face.

"I missed you. Shiro."

The trembling Shiro whispered back.

"I never stopped looking Saber. I never stopped."

Meanwhile, the other people in the room looked at them with mixed emotions. Rin, Luvia, Kuro, and Illya all looked at Saber with notable jealousy. Even if this wasn't their Shirou they still has some feelings for the stubborn redhead.

The couple continued to embrace until Rin's voice reached their ears.

"Emiya-kun, Saber-san. Are we interrupting something?"

Despite being quite red-faced and shocked, Rin spoke for the group. King Arthur being female was quite a surprise already, not to mention Shirou being summoned. However, the two having feelings for each other was simply too much to handle. How would it even work? Shirou and King Arthur lived ages away from each other, so how was it possible for them to know each other and form a relationship no less?

Shirou and Saber broke their embrace and looked at Rin for a second, mystified. However, the second they acknowledge what they just did they turned their heads away from each other and began to blush heavily.

Rin was about to ask another question when several tormented wails reached her ears.

The others could hear it too. After all, the voices of an entire army of tainted heroic spirits reached their ears.

" _ **Holy Grail. Holy Grail. Holy Grail."**_

The creatures of black mud still lingered in the city even though the Ainsworths were dead. Right now, they were hostile to all masters as they wanted the holy grail.

Shirou and Saber immediately moved in front of their masters, weapons in hand and in fighting stances. The masters activated the power of their kalidosticks and changed into their magical girl attire.

With no time to ponder over the outfits, Saber asked Miyu,

"Master, what are those things?"

Miyu answered.

"We don't know. They're apparently heroic spirits that were summoned by the Ainzworths. They rose out of some strange black mud."

Shirou's eyes widened and he muttered.

"Angra Mainyu, what have you done this time?"

The group did not have time to think as a volley of arrows rained down upon them.

Shirou shouted to everyone,

"Get behind me!"

Everyone scurried behind the redhead as the rain of arrows finally came down.

" **Rho Aias** "

A protective pink, flower-shaped shield with seven layers appeared before Archer and the group, protecting them all from the arrows that failed to breach even the first layer.

After the volley of arrows, the small army of heroic spirits charged towards the group from all sides.

Illya and Miyu flew into the air to provide air support while dodging all the arrows.

The melee attackers protected Rin, Luvia and Gil.

The golden boy had lost most of his collection after the class cards were sacrificed to save the world, his card included (he did this so Kuro would not have to sacrifice herself). This meant that he would always have less than half the power of the original Gilgamesh. He did not possess Enuma Elish, or even Ig-Alima. However, he did have the chains of heaven (Enkidu), the always-reliable multi tool.

Now, he was shooting his noble phantasms at the endless waves of heroic spirits. The king cursed in his native language. He did not have enough firepower in his current form.

Meanwhile, Archer and Kuro were rapid-firing his arrows at the seeming endless army. Every single one of Archer's arrows twisted and turned to pierce either the heart or neck of a dark heroic spirit. Kuro tried to learn from the servant her class card borrowed power from.

Shirou spoke while firing arrows with no extra effort.

"Interesting. You can use my tracing. How?"

Kuro answered back.

"Sorry onii-chan, I don't have time to explain right now as you see but just know that I can use your powers for now."

Shirou smiled.

"Intresting, does this mean you can use _that_ as well?"

"No onii-chan I can't. At least not yet."

Both archers continued firing. Their conversation ended there.

Saber cut down any foes that approached the rest of the group along with Bazett. She was first rate heroic spirit unlike her opponents, meaning she could cut them down with relative ease. Most of them could not even breach her armor, and the enemy mages were just wasting their spells on her as she had high tier magic resistance so their attacks were just being completely nullified.

Illya and Miyu looked at them in awe.

"Shirou-san and Saber-san are really amazing."

Miyu nodded in acknowledgement. The friends did not have time to talk after that as archers shot at them from below.

Back on the ground, Shiro cursed. At this rate he would have to use his reality marble. Bazett and Saber were exhausted already. Both heroic spirits did not want to use their noble phantasms since there was a chance they were currently being observed. However, the situation was leaving them little choice.

Illya and Miyu were extremely exhausted already. They had been trying to shoot down at the army while dodging the arrows. The latter was no easy task. Every dark heroic spirit was something of an expert at what they do, which meant the archers were impressive with their aim. This also meant that the shots Illya and Miyu rained down upon the dark spirits did not always kill them. Some of them had incredible endurance.

Illya and Miyu both wished they had their class cards with them. With those, they could stand a chance against the seemingly endless army of darkness.

Saber finally decided that she had enough and turned off invisible air, exposing Excalibur.

The Sword of promised victory shone brightly, its holy light blinding the dark heroic Spirits, stunning them for a brief moment.

Shirou stopped shooting and looked at Saber, giving an encouraging nod. Saber smiled and nodded back.

Miyu and Illya gasped. They had both used the sword before, but it was never this powerful. It was like comparing the brightness of a lightbulb to the sun itself. The sight truly made the girls realize what little power the class cards drew out of the heroic spirits.

Saber stepped forward and prepared to swing her sword downward, holding it up into the air where everyone could see. The dark spirits sensed immediate danger and put more effort into fighting, but it was not enough, for the most powerful holy sword in all of existence finally unleashed its ultimate attack.

" **Excalibur!"**

The world became white.

A man watched the whole battle, studying every single one of the newly summoned heroic spirits' moves. He was also eating a hamburger. Judging from Excalibur, Saber was king Arthur. However, he did not know who Archer was. He was called Emiya Shirou, a name the man thought he should know but doesn't.

The man also observed the two masters of the war. He murmured to himself,

"Interesting. Those two have kaleidosticks, making them almost as powerful as servants. They are not to be taken lightly."

The man took a bite out of his burger and decided to return to his base. With his scarlet cloak masking his face and his dark grey body armor silencing his movements, (for some reason) the assassin class servant retreated into the shadows.

After about ten more Excalibur sword beams, almost all the shadow servants were exterminated. Shirou cleaned up the rest with Kanshou and Bakuya.

Illya and Miyu dropped to the ground, completely exhausted and drenched in sweat. They seperated from the mystic codes and returned to their normal forms. Both were gasping heavily.

Ruby spoke.

"Well that was a workout wasn't it?"

Illya was barely standing when she touched the ground, Miyu wasn't much different.

Rin smiled to them.

"Good job out there, Illya, Miyu."

Illya and Miyu nodded in response, too tired to speak.

Kuro began speaking.

"Ah. If Saber didn't use Excalibur back then we would all be dead. We're lucky she's so powerful! But Onii-chan, why didn't you use _that?_ And Saber-san, why didn't you use Excalibur at the start?"

Kuro frowned.

Shirou simply sighed and shook his head.

"There could have been someone spying on us to get information on our identities. Saber using her noble phantasm was bad enough, if I used mine than the enemy could know everything about us."

Saber nodded, agreeing with her lover.

Kuro nodded, accepting the response as logical.

Shirou relaxed and smiled his big brother smile.

"Guys, why don't we go home, wherever that is and get to know each other?"

Rin sighed.

"Emiya-kun is right. He and Saber only knows our objective is to win the Holy Grail. However, this Holy Grail War is different from the others. Explaining might take a while."

Shirou smiled radiantly at Rin.

"Thank you for understanding, Tousaka."

Rin blushed and turned away, being the tsundere she was.

The group was preparing to go back to headquarters when an arrow was suddenly shot at Illya.

A tainted heroic spirit was still left from the battle that Shirou did not clean up. The spirit was an archer class and his original objective still stood.

The arrow was aimed directly at Illya's heart from the back. When it hit, the elementary girl would probably die in mere seconds.

Shirou, having seen the arrow, moves to intercept it, but is too late. Miyu sees it and widens her eyes.

Shirou knew that he could not make it as soon as he saw the arrow, but he still had to try. After all, he is still haunted by nightmares of that fateful day when Gilgamesh killed his sister.

He would not fail again. He swore to himself. This was as important as his dream to become a hero of justice, to never let another loved one die.

" _Damm it! This can't happen again! It just can't!"_

Shirou's eyes became wider and wider as he moved towards the arrow, his heartbeat accelerating. However, it just wasn't enough. He wouldn't make it in time. Illya was going to die again.

As Shirou was about to fall into despair knowing he would fail his sister again, the voice of a teenage girl echoed from the heavens.

" **Emergency Evade!"**

Suddenly, Illya's body moved itself out of the trajectory of the arrow, breaking the sound barrier. The arrow whizzed passed the white haired girl, flying into the distance harmlessly.

Shirou lept towards the dark heroic spirit, slicing its head clean off with a slash from Kanshou and Bakuya. The sheer force from his leap created a crater on the ground.

The archer class servant gasped for air and knelt down.

Meanwhile, Miyu and the kalidosticks was by Illya's side, asking if she was fine.

Illya however, was looking up into the air, where the single silhouette of a teenage girl flew off into the sunset.

Rin voiced her question.

"W-Who was that?"

Illya answered back with the only information she was certain of

"I don't know Rin-san. But she seems to be an ally."

Illya smiled innocently.

Rin sighed, seeing Illya's naivety. Her current attitude would get her killed in the mages' world. Rin smiled. But, that would be another day. Right now, Illyasviel von Einzbern was simply an innocent girl, and Rin would keep it as such. They would worry about the other stuff when she became an adult.

Whoever Illya's mysterious savior was, Rin thanked her from the bottom of her heart.

Gilgamesh and Bazett narrowed their eyes. The girl was probably a servant, someone they would have to kill soon. They could not afford to be owing any favors to the enemy.

Rin announced to the group.

"Alright! The summoning is a success! Therefore we can go home now!"

Illya sighed in relief. It was always pleasant to get **out** of a dangerous situation.

Whoever her savior was, the Einzbern wished from the bottom of her heart that they could be friends one day.

Illya's savior cursed on the way back to her base. The Einzbern almost got herself killed because of her carelessness. Even if she was a child she was still in a situation where she could be fine in one moment and dead in the next. Therefore she needed to be more careful.

Well, there was nothing to think about. If Illya is endangered again, she would just save her. That was her duty as her caretaker. Illya was part of the girl's large family, and she swore to never let one of her family members die ever again. The mysterious girl would keep that promise even if she had to sacrifice her life.

With her mind made up, the girl increased the pace of her flight, her bright orange hair fluttering in the wind.

 **Well that's the end**

 **Who is assassin and the mysterious girl?**

 **It should be pretty obvious if you play FGO because I gave away very large hints**

 **Well, until next time my loyal readers**

.


	3. Message

Hello readers, this is not a new chapter. I'm sorry.

When I first started the story, it was just for my personal amusement. I was not expecting many views or follows. I thought the story would get around 3 of those on the first chapter. Oh boy how wrong I was.

Anyway, I wrote the first chapter in about 10-30 minutes, which means I didn't think about it much and I just wanted to write some of my thoughts out. I put in about 5 minutes thinking about the characters and plot. That's why I put Shirou as servant archer. I thought about whether to put Archer (Emiya) or Shirou and I decided on Shirou.

Now, some of you people in the comments have already stated that Shirou was too much like the Prisma Illya Shirous and after I reread my work, I can see where you're coming from.

So, since so many of you guys seem to like my story, I will put more work into it. Therefore, I might just rewrite the whole thing, or replace Shirou with Archer (Emiya)

Honestly, I just put Shirou in because of the romance scene with him and Saber. I didn't even know what to do with him after that.

Guys, I'll wait a day for you guys to state your opinions in the comments, then I might just rewrite everything. Or maybe I'll leave the story as it is and build on it. I don't know.

Anyway, that's the end of this little message. Mallador9000 out.


	4. Talks

**Ok**

 **A lot of you people seem to like the story as it is**

 **Therefore I won't rewrite it**

 **This chapter will probably be very short so I am sorry**

 **Homurahara Academy, a Classroom**

Servant Archer, also known as Emiya Shirou, has never been in so much disbelief. Not only was he is talking to people from a parallel universe where the Emiya family could actually live _**happily**_ , but he was also currently in _another_ parallel universe where he dedicated himself to saving his sister instead of becoming a hero of justice.

And if that wasn't enough, not one, not two, but _**three**_ of his parallel universe sisters were right in front of him.

Saber was also equally shocked as well. A universe where Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern lived happily ever after was a very large surprise.

The other news however, made them frown.

Julian Ainsworth was the last remaining Ainsworth left alive. He escaped the final battle between Illya's group and his. All of Julian's associates are deceased, including Angelica.

Tanaka, the ultimate weapon designed to kill the Ainsworths self destructed because her purpose was fulfilled.

The class cards had to be sacrificed to make the wish on the grail that restored the world to what it once was. The plan was originally to make humans into an advanced lifeform that could survive in their new, harsh environment.

Illya somehow made the grail restore the world to before it started collapsing. (with bullshit protagonist powers)

Shirou and Saber originally thought winning the war would be easy with Gilgamesh on their side and that they would have to persuade the king of heros to actually help them. Now they knew that they were very wrong.

Gil's powerlessness at the recent battle with the dark heroic spirits was proof enough. The golden boy had lost over half of his power along with Enuma Elish.

" _Well, at least we still have three people in our group with the power of servants."_

Shirou thought about this when he took a look at Illya, Kuro and Miyu. However, he then realized something very important.

" _Wait! I just noticed but they're just kids! This Illya is just ten years old, same with the other two! What the hell are they doing! Fighting?! At this age?!"_

Shirou then became angry. Saber was the same, maybe even more. After all, there was no way in hell that her code of honor would ever allow ten year olds to fight in something a bloody as the holy grail war.

Shirou facepalmed with a pained expression.

"Okay. I'll just be blunt here."

The red haired boy looked at Rin, Bazett, and Luvia with anger and disappointment in is eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, introducing innocent ten year olds to the world of magecraft?! And that's not all, why are you making them fight in battles that even seasoned warriors would shy away from?!"

Saber also looked at the self proclaimed "adults" in anger.

"I also cannot approve of these children fighting in dangerous battles. I am puzzled why you would make them do so in the first place."

Rin and Luvia looked down with apparent shame, knowing that they did not have any good excuses. Bazett sighed with notable exhaustion. Sapphire and Ruby looked slightly downcast as well.

Shirou and Saber continued to glare at the three until Illya jumped in front of them, spreading her arms in a gesture to block her friends from the servants.

Illya looked at them with extremely dedicated eyes.

"It's fine, Shirou-san, Saber-san. We chose this path for ourselves, and we can take care of ourselves on the front lines, so please don't blame them."

"Regardless, you shouldn't be fighting on the front lines! The battlefield is not a place for children!"

Illya looked defiantly at Shirou.

"Well, we can't just stay back while our friends are in danger! What if they get hurt?!"

Kuro and Miyu nodded.

Shirou sighed. She was his sister alright. The sheer stubbornness, the pure innocence, and the concrete dedication to do what she thought was right. It was looking at his old self, only smaller, younger, and gender swapped. Better to just back off now and save himself from the endless arguing.

"I'll go make dinner."

Shirou walked out of the classroom.

Kuro frowned.

"I thought he would be a little harder to convince."

The Shirou she knew was always very stubborn when it came to his loved ones. To simply give up on this matter, just how different was this new onii-chan?

Saber smiled.

"I know what you're thinking, but I assure you that Shirou has not changed that much. Seeing Illya has simply reminded him of his younger self, and he knows how stubborn he was. Therefore, continued argument would get us nowhere, that is why he withdrew."

Kuro thought,

" _His younger self? Just how old was onii-chan when he died? And how, just how did he become a heroic spirit?"_

It wa not easy to become a heroic spirit. The person had to accomplish at least one heroic feat worthy of recognition and respect from the populace. Such as Beowulf slaying the monster Grendel with his bare hands, or King Arthur pulling Caliburn from the stone.

Just what has Shirou done to get himself recognized as a heroic spirit?

Ruby interrupted Kuro's thoughts by suddenly announcing something.

"Alright! Who wants to see my gallery of Illya's sleeping faces!"

Illya started to chase the mystic code in a circle comically while blushing fiercely.

Kuro sighed.

" _Same old routine huh?"_

 **Ramen Shop**

Assassin returned to his home base, the ramen shop, to report to his master. He was in astral form.

Even though he has never met the man in his first life, every fiber of his being told him to just shoot a whole magazine into his master.

Assassin's hand drifted to his gun, spurred by his instincts. His second hand stopped his first. No matter how much he disliked his master, the grail came first. Therefore he could not afford for his master to die.

Inside the shop, a man sat in the kitchen. The man's eyes were completely empty and deprived of the spark that represented purpose and morality. His apron was folded and in the corner, never to be worn again. The man wore a coat over his black suit, a christian cross necklace dropping down his to his chest.

He was currently eating a plate of mabo tofu, homemade. The sheer spiciness of the dish was already well into the realm of the gods with about ten octillion scoville units. The dish could be called an anomaly, something that definitely should not exist in the world of human comprehension. The menacing aura of the tofu corrupted the air around it, instantly killing even the bacteria.

Servant assassin materialized in front of the false priest, immediately reporting his newfound intelligence.

"Servant class Saber is King Arthur. I saw her use Excalibur with my own eyes. Servant class Archer's identity is unknown. However, he used a layered shield he called 'Rho Aias'. He also called himself Emiya Shirou. Any ideas?"

Kotomine Kirei smirked.

"I know servant Archer's identity."

Assassin raised an eyebrow under his mask.

"Care to share?"

"Of course. Emiya Shirou, the hero of justice. We have a history together. He is a ridiculous man who tries to make everyone in the world happy, truly foolish."

Kirei smirked.

"However, he is willing to sacrifice his own wellbeing for his ideals, even selling his soul to Alaya to protect mankind for all eternity."

Kirei looked into Assassin's eyes.

"He is very much like you, Emiya Kiritsugu."

Assassin's eyes widened and he pulled out the Thompson Contender and pointed it at his master.

"How do you know that name?"

Kirei smirked.

"A man has to keep his secrets."

Kiritsugu pressed on the trigger lightly.

"Answer me **now**!"

Kirei frowned.

"Then you leave me no choice."

The false priest held up his arm with the command spells.

Assassin cursed and put his gun away.

"Well will settle this on a later date, _Master._ "

Kiritsugu went back into his astral form and vanished.

Kirei took a bite of tofu, sweating as he suffered from the spiciness.

" _Like father like son"_

 **How was it?**

 **Leave reviews please**

 **I used Kirei (mabo chef) because I felt making one of the best antagonists in the series into a comedy only side character was a waste**

 **How he has memories of Shirou and Kiritsugu will be explained in future chapters**


	5. Counter Guardian

**This chapter is not too important**

 **It is necessary though**

 **By the way, I forgot to say, but Miyu's brother died in the final battle, that's why he isn't in the fanfiction**

 **Enjoy**

 **Homurahara Academy**

Rin pointed at the whiteboard with a marker, acting as a "teacher".

It was necessary to recap the events of the last few days and Rin nominated herself to do so.

"Alright, the holy grail war. The cup should be able to bring us all home once we get it. Now, to actually win the grail, we'll have to beat the other five masters."

Illya raised her hand.

"Um, what do we do when we beat them? I mean, do their command seals go away or something?"

Rin sighed. Here comes the painful part.

"No Illya, the command seals do not just disappear. To actually be acknowledged by the grail, we will have to **kill** the rest of the servants."

Illya's eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth in horror.

"We can't do that! We can't just kill them! People die when they're killed!" (Quoting Shirou)

Illya's outburst was not surprising in the least. Almost everyone in the room either sighed or looked down.

Rin answered back.

"Look Illya, Servants will disappear naturally when this war's over. Besides, they're essentially just ghost of the past. They've lived their lives already, so killing them is different than killing people."

Illya suddenly gasped as tears came to her eyes. Her whole body started to shake while she was on the verge of crying.

"Y-You mean onii-chan and Saber san will disappear too?"

Rin lowered her head while Kuro winced. Miyu just looked down, her hair covering her face.

"It's fine Illya."

Shirou had gotten out of his seat and pat Illya's head.

"Onii-chan…."

The red haired boy put on a content smile.

"Like Tohsaka said, My life is already over. I'm content with just being able to see you guys again."

Shirou looked at everyone in the room before speaking again.

"Even if you are slightly different from the ones I remember."

By now, everyone has concluded that Shirou was from a parallel universe.

Rin and Luvia blushed at Shirou's smile. However, inside they were frowning a little. The two rivals thought of the same thing. They knew Shirou's smile like the back of their hand. Both had crushes on the boy, which means that both girls studied his every move like their lives depended on it.

One of Shirou's greatest appeals was his smile. It was innocent and pure, which was what gave it its appeal. However, this smile was slightly different.

" _Why does he seem almost sad?"_

Shirou continued.

"And I'm really glad. Thanks to you I finally remembered my name."

Illya, Kuro, and Miyu gasped while the Kaliedosticks twisted themselves into question marks. Gil and Bazett frowned while, Rin and Luvia drew back.

Saber….. well she was able to put two and two together immediately and figure out what exactly Shirou meant by those words. Therefore, she jumped out of her chair and shouted to him.

"Shirou! You didn't!"

Shirou's smile carried a considerable amount of sadness as he turned to look at his lover.

"I had to do it Saber. It was the only way I could ever see you again."

"But becoming a counter guardian means that you will always have to kill! Did you give up your ideals of becoming a hero of justice?! Answer me Shirou!"

Somehow, Shirou's smile was more depressing than before.

"Saber, I was dying. Becoming a counter guardian was the only way I could ever see you again."

Shirou looked down.

"I know it was selfish but I needed to see you one more time, even if I had to sell my soul to Alaya."

Rin and Luvia covered their mouths with their hands while looking at Shirou in horror. Both of the girls were prodigies in the field of magecrat, therefore, they obviously knew what a counter guardian was.

Illya was extremely confused. She had no idea what was going on anymore. However, she definitely knew that something was wrong, as a pit had already formed in her stomach.

Saber began shaking as her hair covered her eyes. She whispered in a tiny voice.

"How many? How many did you kill, Shirou?"

Shirou looked up.

"I don't even know anymore. It could be a thousand, ten thousand, or even a million. I've been doing it for so long that I can't even remember anymore."

Saber started to shake even harder.

"Shirou, because of me your soul can't even rest in peace now. I…."

Saber did not have the chance to say anything else as Shirou embraced her with a very passionate hug.

"It's fine Saber, I've finally seen you again. That's all I wanted for a long time now so I no longer have any regrets."

This time Shirou smiled his old smile, the one back from when he was young. When the promising youth aspired to be a true hero of justice. This smile carried no trace of sadness or regret, causing Saber to tear up a little. It was the exact smile Shirou had on his face during the fifth holy grail war, back when they first met.

Now let's win this war together!"

Saber stopped shaking but still kept her head down. She still could not forgive herself for the burdon she placed upon Shirou.

Illya just looked at the seen with a mixture of confusion, jealousy and unease.

She would never admit this out loud but she was somewhat angry that her onii-chan was taken. She will also never admit that she likes the more experienced versions of her brothers better than the one that lives in her native universe. This of course, was only in a sexual way. She would never actually trade her brother for anyone.

However, a feeling of unease suddenly washed upon her. Call it a hunch but she knew that whatever Shirou had become, it couldn't have been good. Illya could not rid herself of the sense of dread no matter how much she tried.

Therefore, doing the logical thing in her situation, the Einzbern voice her confusion to her friends, hoping for an answer.

"Umm… What exactly is a counter guardian?"

Kuro was just as confused as her sister. None of her memories showed anything about a counter guardian, whatever that was. However, from the reactions of the people around her, she knew that it can't be good. Also, Shirou's sad smile worried her. The tanned girl could tell just from that smile that he went through something less than pleasant. Kuro genuinely hoped that whatever a counter guardian was, their lives weren't too miserable.

Miyu was the same as the other two. Her body language did not show her confusion as much a the other two but was felt the exact same. What manner of creature was a counter guardian, and more importantly, what did Shirou mean when he said he doesn't remember the amount of people he's killed? Miyu thought about it and concluded that there was no way that her brother, even if it was a different one, would ever do something like that. The Shirou she knew was always kind. Even to enemies, he showed mercy, killing only when it was a necessity. Therefore, there was no way he could ever kill a million people.

Shirou sighed at Illya's question.

"So the time has come for me to show my true colors eh? I wanted to reveal it later or not at all, but I guess there's no choice."

Shirou sighed in resignation.

"Pay attention. I am about to tell you the definition of a counter guardian and what they do for a living, or what _I_ do for a living."


	6. After the Holy Grail War

**Hello**

 **Sorry for the late update but my update schedule is not constant**

 **I don't always have time to write unfortunately**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy**

The hero of justice proceeded to tell his story to the audience before him, from the end of the fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War to his transformation into a counter guardian.

Illya and her friends could only listen on in dread while servant archer began his tale.

 **After the Holy Grail War**

The hero of justice pursued his dreams along with Avalon. The boy was still naive, he could not see why not to pursue both.

With his trusting friends Tohsaka Rin and Luvia Edelfelt, Shirou searched ancient texts and modern theories to somehow travel to the reverse side of the world. They searched for years and years with no avail. Even with the combined power of the Tohsaka and Edelfelt families there was still nothing, absolutely nothing.

It was only a matter of time before all of Shirou's old friends moved on and started their families. However, Shirou was forever left in the past, thinking of nothing but reuniting with his lover.

Whenever the hero wasn't saving someone, he poured all of his time into research. He was not good at it, nor was he the type of person that would ever be good at it. Emiya Shirou has always proven to be moderate at understanding complex ideas and theories. This however, did not stop him from stretching his mind to its utmost capacity and focus on the research materials. The hero almost turned into a shut-in, coming out of his house only to buy groceries or to save civilians from natural disasters, terrorists, dead apostles, and the like.

For Shirou, it was a constant struggle to keep his body in shape, considering he was pushing himself to the breaking point. A studious scholar could not efficiently be a mighty warrior at the same time. Noone could spend as much time to research as Shirou and still keep their body in peak condition. This also caused Shirou to sleep less and become seemingly always tired.

During Rin's wedding, Shirou had bags under his eyes and almost fell asleep. During his fight with a group of dead apostles, he almost died because of how physically and mentally exhausted he had become.

Thus, the redhead was eventually forced to make a choice. He could either abandon his occupation as a hero of justice or abandon his search for Saber. There could be only one, the two paths split on a certain point, and one could not walk in two different directions at the same time.

However, there was a third option to achieve both of his goals. The repercussions would not be pleasant and Shirou could go mad after a certain period of time. Considering his personality, Shirou picked the third option instantly.

Now what was this third option exactly?

It was a variation of the same decision the Archer of the fifth holy grail war made. Shirou would live out the rest of is like as a hero of justice, saving others with his full strength. He would stop his research for the rest of his life and focus only on being a man who saves others.

When he died, the redhead would make a contract with Alaya, selling himself out to her as a counter guardian and become a broom to clean up all the messes humanity has made and will make. In return, Shirou would request that Alaya tells him all she knows of about the reverse side of the world and how to get there.

This was obviously better than Shirou's earlier methods. Alaya knows more than any scholar or theorist. Getting her help was the best chance the hero had. The hard part was actually convincing the primordial entity to accept his proposition.

At the end of Emiya Shirou's life, he managed to convince Alaya to accept his proposal. However, there were changes made to the agreement. Every time Shirou cleaned up an incident by the order of Alaya, he earned a point. He would have to earn exactly a million points for the information he wished for.

It was a contract with few advantages for hirou. Even if Shirou gathered one million points, there is no guarantee that the information would be something he could use to be reunited with Saber. However, the hero was desperate enough to actually accept the deal, risking the eternal fate of his soul on a gambal with a low chance of success. Even so, Shirou did not regret his decision. Even if he had to sell his own soul, even if he would have to kill an untold amount of people, the redhead would never regret his decision. His love for Saber was too strong for him to do so, and it was also the anchor that he used to hold on to his sanity.

This is the story of Emiya Shirou, a sorrowful story of a man who wanted to be reunited with his lover, his love so strong that he would not only sacrifice his ideals for her, but also his soul.

 **That's the end**

 **yeah, to be honest, I didn't enjoy writing this and I didn't elaborate a lot**

 **However, this backstory is literally a slight variation of Archer's**

 **I wrote this to just tell you what parts of both of their backstories were different**

 **Sry if it was boring, it was boring to write too**

 **I want to move on into more entertaining scenes in the next chapter**

 **See ya!**


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